


A Cloud and a Stork

by ImperialMint



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-03
Updated: 2011-04-03
Packaged: 2017-10-17 12:46:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/176985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialMint/pseuds/ImperialMint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From kinkme_merlin prompt: based off Pixar's short film Partly Cloudy. In which Arthur gets a new job and Merlin's having a bad day (eventually).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Cloud and a Stork

Despite what all the legends and myths said, Avalon really wasn't that much of a glorious afterlife. Sure, when you arrived it was all very nice; all pastel colours and smiles, but first impressions were misleading. After the 'introductory period' (as Arthur had christened it), you were drafted off, given tasks - jobs! - even. They (and no, Arthur still didn't know who 'they' were, but he had a feeling Merlin did, the sneaky bugger) let you relax for a century or two before telling you that, actually, when you came to Avalon, you weren't given the rest of eternity for a nice ride, really you were there to make the people down below not lead a completely dismal life.

It had started with a letter, a simple, beige envelope with starched paper inside and cursive script with his name and address on the outside. It was freshly delivered by the postal birds, yes postal birds; this was Avalon after all, and so Arthur hadn't had anyone to shout at when he'd opened it.

"Dear Mr Pendragon," he'd read, already irritated because it had been seven hundred and ninety-nine years since he'd been called his rightful title and, while he'd petitioned against it, the council or whoever ran the place were determined to dethrone all royals.

It was happening all over, really, and Arthur was one letter away from joining the support club. Most of them were a bit too bloodthirsty for his liking, though, and he swore they'd staged a coup against a small herd of unicorns once. Arthur had always had a soft spot for unicorns after the incident back in the day.

"You have been summoned to the Court to receive your official job placement for the next millennia," he'd finished off, flummoxed at the fact he, the Once and Future King, had to stoop to some form of manual labour until the world below was in some form of drastic mortal peril.

Where was his holiday? Avalon was supposed to be the resting point before his dashing knight act (again, where he'd save them all); what would he do if earth called when he was in the middle of a shift? What if he wasn't allowed to leave until his shift had finished and something happened below, causing the world to erupt and everyone to die and then everyone would blame him for not being there when really it wasn't his fault, and then he'd be-

"The look on your face..." a voice interrupted incredulously. "If only human technology worked up here because I'd love to record your face right now and show Morgana. I can only imagine the teasing you'd get from it."

Arthur looked up from the letter, glowering at Merlin. The warlock was smiling his infuriatingly charming smile, but it did nothing for Arthur's mood. Okay, well it sent little butterflies around in his stomach, but it always did that so, technically, it didn't count.

"Since when have we had to work in Avalon?" Arthur demanded instead. He knew Merlin worked... or something. He was gone all day and Arthur knew that Merlin knew people on the Council of Avalon - not that he'd ever told Arthur, even after a weekend of much-promised, mind-blowing sex. Merlin was frustratingly resistant in disclosing details about Avalon in general, let alone people Arthur might be able to bribe into giving him an easy life one way or another.

(Even centuries later, telling someone you were the Once and Future King still had great impact and got Arthur a lot of places. Merlin didn't approve, of course, but then again, Arthur knew Merlin was a sneaky, sneaky liar who used his magic to do 'bad' things too, which Arthur pretended to disapprove of just because he could.)

Instead of acting like the appalled boyfriend/partner/suffering-chief-sorcerer-of-Camelot's-former-court/love-of-Arthur's-life-but-don't-tell Merlin-that-or-he'd-get-a-big-head, Merlin stared at Arthur. Really stared, like one of the post birds when you hadn't answered the door the instant they'd chirped.

"I've been telling you about it for decades. So's Morgana and Gwen." Merlin frowned, shaking his head slightly. "You do know the reason why the Knights of the Round Table aren't around here every day any more is because they're working at the moment, right?"

No, Arthur didn't. He'd just assumed they'd finally got bored of him (sometimes you just needed fifty years of peace from someone; nothing personal) and decided to stay away for a bit.

"You didn't tell me about any job," Arthur chose to say instead, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. He had the urge to alter his body-clock, to turn back to a pouting toddler, but reverting on your timeline was strangely quite painful and more hassle than it was worth. Last time Arthur had changed back to a three-year old had been to prove something to Morgana and he'd ended up with a six month -long craving for mushed up food, something he'd rather not repeat again.

He didn't though, staying in his twenty-something year old body instead, pouting like a child and still upset about the whole job thing.

"What the hell does Avalon do? I mean it's not like we're manufacturing things for down below, like those... cars or planes or something. We're the afterlife, do we specialise in hauntings or something? Is that it, have I cracked the code and now, because I know, I'll be let off?" There was hope in his voice and he steadfastly ignored Merlin's shaking head.

"I don't know what you'll be delegated to, but Avalon does a lot more than you might think." Merlin paused before realising that Arthur had accosted him as he'd walked through the front door, therefore he was still in his coat and scarf. He rectified the situation quickly, leaving his outdoor wear on the coat stand and moving into the living room.

"And how can you not know? I've been working for about eight decades now; did you just think I went out for a really long walk every business day?" Arthur shrugged. No, he hadn't, but he didn't realise Merlin had been working-working... maybe just pottering round the office or something at the Head of Avalon. Wherever and whatever that may be.

"I had more pressing things on my mind," Arthur insisted, trailing after Merlin with a whine.

This was the problem when you'd known each other for centuries and had been together longer than you cared to remember. Merlin knew everything about Arthur, and Arthur about Merlin. It was great for everyday life (when they weren't arguing over historical inaccuracies or something just as trivial), but when Merlin wanted to make a point, it was a very sharp and big point because he knew Arthur so well and could dig deep, picking up on things no one else could

"Well you're going to work. I'll take you to the offices myself; they're on the way to work." He muttered something about making dinner then, before adding, "You never know, it might be more fun than you think. And it gets you out of the house so you might actually be able to see earth so you'd know when you were needed again!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, refusing to agree even though Merlin did have a point.

The job, as far as jobs went, actually sounded interesting. Arthur wouldn't admit it to Merlin later, but as he stood amongst a batch of new recruits and was briefed on what they'd be doing, he couldn't wait to begin.

They were baby-making. Literal baby-making. As in forming babies of any animal, any species, out of clouds. Well, what humans below called clouds and what the woman briefing them called the spark of life, but Arthur paraphrased it to mean they'd be sitting on a mound of cloud and shaping said cloud into baby animals before... poof! They became real.

Bit like that Pinocchio story Merlin had come back with one day, but that really wasn't the point.

As with most jobs on the first day, Arthur needed to be overseen. It was just his luck that the task fell to Morgana and she smirked, reminiscent of the days she'd been dead set on killing them all.

"Good morning, brother dearest," she greeted warmly, kissing his cheeks in a continental way, because it was apparently all the range on earth (she always had been a bit of a trend follower;, you could track the dates through Morgana's wardrobe, which was probably a better outlet for her frustration than killing them, so no one really minded).

"Morgana," he replied stonily. It was a Monday morning, after all, and while the job sounded interesting, it was still a job. One, he might add, that there was no payment for. And no, he told a voice that sounded a lot like Merlin, your stay in Avalon guaranteed did not count as payment.

She taught him the basic ropes of the job, demonstrating how to shape your clouds into various animals, how to feel the life of the creation and really believe in it. It was amazing to see creations living and breathing after being formed from clumps and Arthur couldn't wait until he had his first go.

Halfway through their training session, Morgana had gathered a litter of puppies and two of kittens through demonstrating and Arthur practicing, and she informed him that they needed to be sent off.

"Gwen will be here any minute; she's my Stork."

The Storks were the ones who delivered the babies to their parents and Arthur wondered who his own Stork would be, seeing as Gwen and Morgana were crossed out. Maybe it would be one of the knights, or at least he hoped so.

True to form, Gwen arrived a few minutes later, dressed in a white and black uniform. A large pack was strapped to her back and it took a moment for Arthur to realise this was what would enable her to fly.

"Wow, you've done really well Arthur," she said when she took in the puppies and kittens. Arthur puffed his chest out proudly, smiling at the compliment.

"I'll go inform your Stork then, shall I? He can help me shift this lot out while you go practice with Morgana out in the open with the other Clouds."

And that was that; Gwen and his own Stork (who he hadn't had a chance to look at, which was annoying) sorted the bundles of kittens and puppies while he practiced in the open, on his own and with only Morgana's eye to watch him.

"Tomorrow you'll be on your own fully," Morgana warned him as he turned to head home, tired after the shift. It had been... fun in a way, but it was tiring stuff. He'd be glad for the company of his own Stork tomorrow, unless they were a complete twat of course.

"Night," he called out to Morgana as he left, waving goodbye absently and heading straight home.

He let himself in, traipsing up the stairs in his and Merlin's house until he fell on the bed, exhausted after the training day. It was nice to come home and have someone cuddle you after a hard day's work, Arthur mused before he slipped into dreams of making animal-babies out of clouds.

.

He should have expected it really. With so much between them and that little bugger of a thing called Destiny, it was only to be expected that Merlin - of everyone in Avalon - was his Stork.

"Morning, Cloud!" Merlin greeted as soon as Arthur gathered his cloud up, preparing to launch off into the space between the mortal world and Avalon.

"Merlin?" he asked, dropping the bundle of clouds he had in his hands, turning sharply to see Merlin in a crisp black and white uniform, zipped up with a grin on his face. "But you work for the government, like a spy or something..."

Merlin gave him an odd look, like the time he'd come home to find that Arthur had 'redecorated', painting the house Pendragon red. It had been the week where Arthur had first found out that his reign was now legend and, even so, still hadn't been written correctly, so he'd just needed a bit of a boost.

"No, I'm a Stork. Always have been; only, when you were placed as a Cloud, the higher ups knew that I'd be the only one who could tolerate you. So I got switched for your newbie Stork and, well, here we are." Merlin paused, settling on the edge of Arthur's cloud. "And really Arthur? A spy for the government?"

He knew that Merlin was giving him The Look, but Arthur ignored him in favour of pushing the cloud up into the sky, settling a little way beneath the rest of the workers. He gave Merlin a once over appreciatively, admiring the fit of the uniform, before he noticed that, unlike Gwen had been yesterday, he didn't wear a pack.

"How are you going to make the deliveries without a pack?" he questioned and Merlin gave him another odd look. What was it with all these odd looks? Arthur didn't deserve them at all. And sure maybe he had been a bit slow on a few uptakes, but he hadn't really done much overly complex thinking in the last hundred years or so.

"Do you ever listen to what I say over dinner?" Arthur did, but Merlin always licked his lips distractingly and it was hard to hold onto long-winded conversations when all he really wanted to do was kiss him. Was that such a crime?

"Of course I do," he said instead, "But, and only hypothetically of course, if I said I hadn't remembered this topic of conversation, what might your reply be?"

They'd settled now and were waiting for the sun to fully rise below (above? it was hard to tell in Avalon) before they could start creating. Merlin rolled his eyes as the first sunbeams caught his cheekbones. It was a miracle Arthur registered the reply at all, really.

"I'm the greatest warlock to have ever existed; flying's child's play for me." Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so maybe not child's play, but they won't let me have a pack because they think I'm capable enough."

Actually, Arthur did remember this conversation. Well, all he'd known was that Merlin wasn't allowed something because apparently he didn't need it, but now it finally made sense!

Someone above shouted something out and then the noises of work began; the zing as the 'spark' was added to creations, welcoming the newly risen sun. Soon the low hum of jet-packs began to spread around them and Storks began to set off, linen bundles in their arms.

Their partnership started off smoothly, with Arthur producing puppies and kittens, little, cute animals. There were a few bigger animals such as foals and calves, but generally Merlin had an easy job.

Arthur, on the other hand, felt something was wrong. Well, maybe not 'wrong', but definitely not-right. And yes, there was a difference, one he'd spent five years trying to prove to Merlin. There was a connection to his creations, but there was something missing... lacking, even.

But it was only his first day, first time creating - working - so there wasn't much he could do but keep on rolling out the animals, smiling as Merlin picked up a lamb or a chick, flying off with the other Storks to deposit the babies.

As the sun set and they began to filter down, drifting their clouds back to the base, Merlin sat beside him, humming a song he'd heard on the radio below. And while Arthur felt there was something missing in his work, he felt pretty perfect on his cloud with Merlin, watching the sun set.

.

That opinion changed quite quickly. The third month into the job, Merlin was told to take a holiday (a holiday! The whole thing was supposed to be a bloody holiday!), which he couldn't change. Arthur, as a newbie, wasn't allowed to request his leave date to match Merlin's and it ended with Arthur working while Merlin moped around the house, unsure what to do with himself with free time and no Arthur.

(At least that's what Arthur pretended as he shipped off the next baby to the temporary Stork, because Merlin was surely pining after him during the day and would launch into his arms before he even got through the threshold, right?)

It turned out that Merlin didn't launch into his arms and had, instead, spent the day reading books that used ridiculous profanities such as 'Merlin's beard'. Merlin had glared when he'd kindly pointed out they were wrong and that he'd never had a beard, or at least not a great enough one to warrant books written about it, and tried to explain that the books weren't actually about his beard and about a boy wizard or something. Arthur had tuned out before then though, adopting Uther's old strategies on magic and ordering the books to be burnt.

Maybe Uther had been right about this; these books were evil, what with keeping Merlin from leaping into his arms.

The next day had seen an even moodier Arthur take to the skies, fizzing with the urge to create something different, something that wasn't lacking in something. So he did, closing his eyes and ignoring the cute barks and mewls of the animals above, opening his mind as Merlin had told him to on so many occasions before and...

He felt the spark of life entering his creation and it wriggled, muscular body curling around Arthur's hands. He opened his eyes in shock, staring at the snake. No one had ever said what kind of animals they had to make, and even snakes had to have babies, so Arthur bundled the baby up and sent it off with a frowning Stork.

Merlin returned back to work and Arthur fought the smile that wanted to take over his face. After their almost reenactment of the Great Purge: Book Edition, Merlin had gone to stay with Freya (Arthur had long ago accepted that there was nothing between them, but he'd never really become that good of a friend with her due to the whole... killing her bit). Which meant they hadn't seen one another for a week, which wasn't a long time in Avalon, but he'd grown so dependent on seeing Merlin every day that a simple week felt ridiculously long without the familiar dark mop of hair.

"I have something to show you," was the first thing Arthur said when Merlin settled on the cloud.

They rose up with the others in silence, Merlin crossing his arms over his chest and staring everywhere but at Arthur. They hadn't fought properly in a few decades so Arthur wasn't too bothered, after all, it was nothing like the Great Argument where they'd purposefully avoided each other for almost half a decade, until Morgana had had enough of splitting Sunday lunches between them and forced them back together.

Arthur settled their cloud on his usual spot and waited for the sun. When it was time, he gathered up his clouds, searching for the spark in him and moulding his animal. The spark came and Merlin's eyes widened in shock as Arthur revealed his creation.

"It's a lizard baby," Merlin said slowly, glancing hurriedly around at the Clouds above, checking they were still business as usual before looking back at Arthur's creation.

"Not just any, but a Komodo dragon." Arthur beamed, cradling the baby in his arms. Its forked tongue darted out from its mouth before it wriggled, claws scratching Arthur's arms a little.

"Here you go," and he passed the Komodo dragon to Merlin, who accepted it slowly, mindful of the claws and teeth.

"Right... I'll be off then, shall I?" But he smiled as he turned to leave, a soft look in his eye that told Arthur everything was forgiven and he'd come home-home tonight.

.

The calm lasted for almost eight years, Arthur filling up quotas for rare and interesting animals while Merlin delivered them. They were allowed their holidays together now and Avalon was starting to look up again (or rather, Arthur had resigned himself to the fact that earth was coping quite merrily without him and they didn't need him so he might as well work).

That morning though, Merlin looked awful. Sure they both had their days, but dark circles shadowed Merlin's eyes and he looked thin, too thin. When Arthur suggested maybe he take the day off, all he got in reply was a glare and so they set off together, building up their cloud and taking to the sky.

Merlin was delivering a bear cub when Arthur felt the familiar tingle and he shaped the cloud, risking a glance up before he finished. He could hear Morgana's shrill laughter from down here and - mainly thanks to the mood Merlin had brought with him - he didn't see why anyone would be so happy today.

His creation was done soon after and he wiped the smudges of cloud away, smiling at the little creature before him. The crocodile turned to him with wide eyes, grinning slightly, so Arthur rewarded him with a cuddle, tickling his nose.

"Merlin will be here soon to take you to your new mum," Arthur whispered, rocking the reptile. He'd never had children of his own - never desired to - but it was still nice to have something you created in your arms, even if it was the wrong species.

It was then that Merlin arrived back, setting down lightly with a slight smile. His mood seemed to have improved and he even managed a look of interest at the crocodile, reaching out to touch his scales.

Maybe that was where it all went wrong, because the crocodile launched itself at Merlin, sharp, shiny teeth clamping down on his arm. Taken by surprise, all Merlin could do was yelp while Arthur looked on horrified, tugging at the crocodile's tail and trying to unclench his jaws.

"No, no come on now," he pleaded, "Let Merlin go, Merlin's nice!"

Merlin didn't look happy.

"Just let go, there's a nice croc... that's it!" he exclaimed happily as the crocodile opened its mouth, probably aiming to maul more of Merlin, but Arthur was quicker and grabbed him. He wrapped it in the linen bundle, passing it over to Merlin.

His arm was healed up - the perks of being in Avalon - but that didn't mean he hadn't felt the pain, and Arthur watched a little miserably as Merlin gingerly took the crocodile, setting off for his journey.

He'd make something nicer for when Merlin came back, Arthur decided with a smile.

He set about making something special, something nice, for Merlin. It had to be different, but still something the warlock would like. Unfortunately, Arthur couldn't create unicorn babies (did unicorns even have babies? They just seemed to appear...) so he was stuck trying to think of another animal, like a unicorn maybe.

By the time Merlin had returned, Arthur was just setting the finishing touches to his creation. He was proud of this one and beamed when Merlin set down, a hint of a smile poking through the odd mood he was in. He looked a little worse for wear and Arthur hoped that it was just because he hadn't slept much last night and not because the crocodile had tried to take another bite.

With a weary sigh, Merlin looked to the latest creation, shooting a questioning look to Arthur.

"I think," he began, "That you'll like this one Merlin." With that, he felt the spark growing, flowing into the clouds beneath his fingers. They split suddenly, revealing a ram, head bent and body propelling forwards, straight into Merlin.

Arthur winced, gently dragging the ram back, smoothing down the hair on its back. Merlin was doubled over, having taken a hit to the stomach, and he peered up at Arthur clutching the sheep.

"Um," he began and the sheep took advantage of the lull, leaping forwards to crash its skull against Merlin's leg, bleating merrily. Maybe it felt it had to defend Arthur against an intruder and, the ram being a baby, wouldn't understand that Merlin wasn't an intruder at all but a very much loved individual.

"Can you just bundle it up," Merlin said wearily, though he still managed a small smile. Arthur felt cheered at that and he nodded, gathering clouds in his hands and wrapping them over the sheep before it could scamper off to attack Merlin again.

It should have stopped there, but as Merlin picked the bundle up (at arm's length, but who could blame him really?), the sheep gained momentum, swinging until its skull bashed into Merlin's ribcage, causing him to clench his jaw and shoot a deadly look in Arthur's direction.

But they all had bad days, right? And Merlin had never complained about the lack of puppies or kittens before... in fact, he'd commented that he loved how Arthur created different animals. Sure they might not be the most aesthetically pleasing at times, but they all had a little character and a little cheek.

Merlin just appeared to be drawing the short straw today. That was all, a bit of bad luck.

It was a little while later that Merlin returned, looking haggard and stumbling a little as he set down on the cloud. Arthur turned in worry, halfway through forming the animal in his hand and so he didn't have a chance to warn Merlin before he was clutching at the creature, lifting it from Arthur's hands with a smile.

"What the fuck Arthur?" Merlin swore, jiggling the porcupine a little. It gave a squeak, scrabbling against Merlin's chest and pressing more quills into Merlin's skin.

"I'm sorry!" Arthur replied, horrified. It wasn't his fault, not really, because he was meant to create this animals, but it didn't make seeing Merlin get hurt any easier. There was too much of that in the past and a porcupine wasn't going to ruin years of happiness.

Gently, Arthur took the Porcupine by the stomach, mindful of the quills, and wrapped it up. It didn't stop the spines poking through the fabric, but Merlin had his magic and was a creative sort, surely he'd be able to find a way to deliver the baby?

He then noticed that Merlin was glancing off above them, a wistful look on his face. Arthur followed his line of sight and frowned as he saw Morgana and Gwen laughing over a troupe of puppies and kittens, rolling around on their cloud with the cuddly animals crawling all over them.

Sensing Arthur was done, Merlin snapped to glum attention, taking the porcupine gingerly and heading off. He left behind a thoughtful Arthur, wondering if Merlin was tired of their partnership. Arthur knew it wasn't an easy one, not with the amount of times Merlin had faced some kind of deadly animal. And no, it didn't really matter if they got hurt because they'd already died, but try telling that to a body that anticipates the pain and knows it'll feel it anyway.

(Plus Arthur hated seeing Merlin hurt. Enough said on that matter.)

But was it so bad that Merlin had come to look up at Morgana and the other Clouds with a wistful look, wishing for the partner he'd had before he'd been assigned to? Had they finally reached the end (and was it the end of just their working partnership or did Merlin want an end-end, despite the centuries and the pain and the happiness and...)?

Arthur frowned, focusing his attention into another creation. Merlin would be back soon and he needed something... big, bold, interesting. He had to keep Merlin now, it was turning into a war, one against Morgana to see who kept Merlin as their Stork.

He'd almost finished when Merlin returned and so Arthur span round, a grin on his face that dropped quickly when he took in his Stork. His uniform was punctured and torn in places and little dots of blood covered... well everywhere.

Abandoning his project, Arthur pulled Merlin to his chest, grabbing onto him with wide eyes. He couldn't lose Merlin, not now, not after all they'd been through.

It was time to show him the new baby and he smiled, pulling back and reaching for the cloud.

"You'll like this one," he said with a smile, ignoring the skeptical look Merlin shot him. He moved the cloud-shark in front of him, stroking a fin admirably, smiling.

And then he noticed the look of utter horror on Merlin's face. Sure the teeth were a little sharp and it was a big baby, but it was still a baby shark!

It didn't matter though, because Merlin left without the shark, shooting upwards without a single word. The shark fizzled out of existence, and a little piece of Arthur shot desperately after Merlin, calling for him to come back.

It was Morgana's cloud he settled onto and she glanced back at Arthur, as Merlin talked in a low voice to her. She gave a horrid cackle and Arthur narrowed his eyes. He hadn't been truly angry in a long, long while, but seeing Morgana like this with Merlin made him loathe her.

What had he done that Merlin needed Morgana for? Wasn't he enough anymore? But then why not talk to Arthur, get him to maybe add a few unicorns (hypothetically of course, because unicorns just jumped out from rainbows or something) instead of running off to Morgana?

Eight years of working together; finished. Probably their whole after-lifetime (coming close to a millennia now - an actual, proper milestone of a millennia) over now too. Merlin clearly didn't want him anymore and, what with earth quite happy not needing him too, what was he going to do? He couldn't go home; it would remind him of Merlin. He couldn't work; it would remind him of Merlin too. He couldn't see their friends because they were Merlin's friends as well...

Everything was ruined.

His anger seeped from him then, the lightning from his cloud sizzling out to be replaced by rain. Merlin was gone, forever, so what was the point of anything? Let the little patch of meadow his cloud covered turn to a bog, to mirror Arthur's withering heart as he lay alone, never dying and always, always, always alone.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're such a drama queen?" Arthur started at the voice and span around quickly to see Merlin hefting a large bundle on his shoulder. "I think I'll call you the Once and Future Drama Queen from now on; has a ring to it, no?"

He was probably bobbing his mouth open and closed like a goldfish, but... Merlin was here! The bundle on his back looked like trouble, but Merlin had come back at the very least.

"I thought..." he drifted off, not wanting to admit he'd thought the worst.

"I know what you thought, you idiot," Merlin said affectionately, setting his bundle on their cloud. "My magic's been a bit off lately, I think it's because they still won't give me a pack and flying gets a little tiring after a decade of doing long hours of it. So I'm sorry for the mood I've been in," Merlin continued, stepping closer to Arthur.

"Why did you go to Morgana?" Arthur liked to think he managed to keep the jealousy from his voice, but he wasn't one hundred per cent sure.

Merlin unknotted the bundle, jerking his head for Arthur to look.

"As the higher ups won't give me a jetpack, I'll just have to take another form of defence other than magic on these beasties." Merlin grinned and it was then Arthur realised how much he had missed seeing it. Which was ridiculous really because it hadn't been a full day yet, but there hadn't been much to do in Avalon when they'd first arrived and staring at Merlin had been a great past time.

(As had other things, but Arthur wanted them to stay snug and secret, his and Merlin's for the rest of eternity.)

Arthur was lost for words when Merlin took the items out of the bag, slipping into them and raising an eyebrow.

"Well?" he prodded and Arthur tilted his head to the side, a small smile in place. Merlin was wearing the livery of Camelot, chainmail underneath the Pendragon red tunic. The dragon on the front was as pristine as ever and Arthur traced a hand over the embroidery.

"Morgana did a good job," he said quietly, amazed that Merlin had chosen the Pendragon crest, even after so long.

"Come here then," Merlin whispered, moving until they were against each other, lips seeking familiarity and comfort. The broke languidly, content and feeling as if they were young again, without time and without history. Just Merlin and Arthur, two boys living in a big home in the city of Camelot.

"What am I delivering next?" Merlin asked a little later and an image formed in Arthur's mind. He was quick to create it, giving it the spark, and he handed it over to Merlin, smiling. With his chainmail, Merlin would be well protected.

Well, so Arthur thought, until he realised he'd created an electric eel, but nobody's perfect and everyone had to make a mistake some time. Merlin saw the humour though this time and his laughter echoed around the skies, drawing soft smiled from the other Clouds and Storks.

On the way home that evening, hand-in-hand as they floated over rooftops and trees, Merlin turned to Arthur with a serious look.

"I'm never leaving you," he whispered, kissing Arthur's cheek.

Arthur smiled, glancing to him and nodding. "And you're stuck with me, until the end of time."

Merlin shrugged. "I can think of worst," he muttered, snuggling against Arthur's side. It might not be a holiday, but Arthur had deserved this more than anything.

.


End file.
